3 Things to Consider When Choosing an Online Art Program for Homeschool
For many parents, homeschooling offers the best of both worlds when it comes to education. Because your child isn’t going to school with hundreds of other students, you can tailor their education to their own specific needs and interests. This can be especially helpful if they have special learning needs or a passion for an art form that’s not offered in traditional schools — like visual arts. If you’re considering enrolling your homeschooler in an online art program to help meet their educational needs, here are three things you should consider before committing.
1) Choose an Educational Focus
Educational focus is a major consideration when choosing an online art program. There are many different types of programs; it’s helpful to know what style you’re looking for before you begin your search. This can help narrow down your options and get you into a program that best fits your goals, be they academic or extracurricular. Depending on where your interests lie, there are programs which emphasize concepts like fine arts, digital arts, media arts, or performing arts.
If you have no idea where to start, look at colleges and universities near you—many have robust online offerings in art! Check out nearby art museums and art agencies. I have also found a lot of online art programs on Facebook by searching. A lot of these companies run Facebook ads, so the content will show up in a search for you and be redirected at you periodically.
Look at what your child is interested in, and where they excel. Do they love digital art? Research animation schools. Are they a fine artist with a natural flair for watercolors? Look into programs which emphasize painting and drawing techniques. Remember that some programs are suited best as complements to on-campus or local schooling, rather than standalone alternatives!
Here is the most important thing to consider: Is my child going to be doing this just for the heck of it? (Gosh! I hope not. There's so many benefits of good art instruction beyond the fun factor.)
If they are going to just do it for the heck of it, though, you might as well just put them in front of a YouTube stream. No harm, no foul.
If you want them to take away creative and artistic skills while they have fun, find a program that has been developed by an actual teacher. Some online art education companies focus on the product and ignore teaching about the process. This is just a business model, no big deal. However, a teacher can make the process matter as much as the product. That's where the magic lies! That's where you will get a return on your investment in your child's education and development (time and money) in the long run.
2) Check Out the Curriculum
The curriculum of any online art program should be a critical piece of your decision. You want to see that it’s age-appropriate and well-designed. If you can, meet with other homeschooling families who have tried out different programs, and ask them what they liked or didn’t like about it. If you can’t do that, do as much research as possible on various curricula before you make a decision. A lot of online entities use the word "curriculum" loosely, so here are some things to look for:
- Are the projects connected by more than just subject matter? In other words, will what the student learns in one project then be applied to another? If there are eight lessons on winter landscapes, but none of the skills/media overlap on those projects, then there is probably a disconnect in that curriculum. New skills should build on previously learned skills. Always!
- Will they have opportunities to independently practice and improve these skills? Is it possible to get feedback from an actual teacher? Feedback is crucial to growth. Your child needs a teacher who knows how to give constructive feedback in an artistic discipline. That way the artwork can be revised and improved. Your child does not need a teacher who says everything they make is perfect the first time.
- Are the projects open-ended or does the student's end product look exactly like the teacher's every single time? Students need to be doing a lot of decision-making and creative thinking. If the process for creating art is to go step-by-step with the teacher so that the end product looks just like the one the teacher made, your child isn't getting to do their own creative thinking. Look for a program that has open-ended lessons where your child can express themselves.
- Does the program provide opportunities for art analysis and presentation? Your student should be looking at and thinking critically about works of art in addition to creating their own art. This is one of the most important things to artistic development and art instruction, but it gets overlooked way too often. Your student cannot become an artist without being able to look critically at the works created by themselves and others. Additionally, your student needs to understand the considerations that go into the presentation of artworks. These two things go hand-in-hand.
3) What Kind of Support do they Provide?
Quality varies greatly from one online program to another. In some cases, you might just get a website with some videos and worksheets, while other programs may offer more support via live chats, group projects, and quizzes complete with feedback. I suggest finding out as much information as possible about what kind of support each program provides before committing to a long-term contract. You can usually tell a lot by looking at their past projects and testimonials too.`In considering support, don't forget the previously mentioned importance of feedback to the artistic process as well.
In addition to evaluating support, you’ll also want to check out pricing. Some programs have monthly or annual fees, while others may be pay-as-you-go. You can get a good feel for prices by checking out their sign up page and seeing what they offer, as well as comparing with other similar programs. Remember that you usually get what you pay for. A good quality program with a highly qualified instructor is worth the cost.
In the End
In the end, remember that your child may not always produce a perfect work of art. If they are truly learning in an artistic discipline, they will make mistakes and experience failure. This is how they learn and grow. So, try to judge a program by the processes used in instruction as described above rather than what the end products are supposed to look like, especially when those end products all look exactly like the teacher made them.
“Judge an art program by the processes used in instruction rather than what the end products are supposed to look like.”